A Dying Man's Last Wish
by xxRazzberryxx
Summary: When Tony Stark's arc reactor just one day stops working it leaves him vulnerable to death, and his boyfriend, Steve Rogers, helpless to save him. Rated M for character death.


**Hey, I just want to say that all of my stories wont be this sad, but this is just something that came to mind a while back when I was severely depressed. **

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"Does the dying man…get one last wish?" Tony whispered so quietly even I almost missed it, even though I was lying next to him, my body pressed to his, trying to keep him warm.

"You're not going to die Tony. Banner will figure out a way to fix this." I tried keeping my voice firm against the tears that threatened. The faint hint of his old arrogant smile touched his features as he turned his head towards me, chipping away at my already crumbling strength.

"We both know…he can't…There's no cure for this….it's just…my time."

"Shut up and rest. Everything will be okay!" I nearly shouted my voice cracking slightly on the last word. I rested my head on his shoulder taking a deep controlling breath.

I felt his hand rest on the top of my head as a father would do for his child as a subtle sign of comfort. "Of course everything will…be okay…I just want…one last thing from you."

I hesitated a moment, then pulled back looking first at his face, then down to the barely glowing light of the reactor, then back at his face. "Anything." I whispered, feeling as if I had just signed away his fate.

"Kiss me."

Those two words, broke down my entire being. How many times had I heard him say it? In playfulness. In anger. In happiness. In sadness. And now, in the last moments of his life.

How did we end up here? How did we go from happy days to a dying man's last wish?

I looked down, my eyes falling once again on the reactor. The thing that was the cause of all this. The one thing that was supposed to be keeping him alive, and had been doing so, until a couple of days ago when it had just decided to give up. To let its creator fade from this world in the most painful way possible.

Banner had been working day and night trying to find a way to restore the reactor's power. But all the while he was doing so the shrapnel was tearing away at his veins and arteries, trying to get to his heart as quickly as possible. To take his life as it had always hungered to do.

I felt warmth on my cheek, moving downward slowly. And it wasn't until Tony weakly brushed it away with his hand that I realized I was crying. I looked at him trying to find remains of the strong features that had once been there. But now, all that was left was the withered look of a tired man who knew he could not win his fight and was resigning himself to defeat.

"A kiss…that's all…I ask…"

I swallowed hard and leaned down, pressing my lips softly against his. I meant only for a short chaste kiss, but somehow it turned fiery. I knew he was using what was left of his strength to tell me everything he couldn't say. And I understood with such clarity it almost shocked me.

He was the one to break the kiss, even though I so desperately wanted to hold him there. To stay in that moment. To forget that he was trying to say good bye. To feign ignorance as death waited quietly in the room to take him away.

Tony smiled softly, and I noticed he too was crying. Whether in pain or in the comprehension, I wasn't sure. Though I could guess it was probably both, judging by the way his whole body was tense yet his facial feature seemed so relaxed.

"I love you." He whispered as his breathing became more ragged and he closed his eyes against the pain.

"I love you too." I gripped his hand tightly as if somehow that would stop him from slipping away from me. I no longer held back my crying and let it out freely sobbing against his chest unable to watch his face as he slowly left me.

"Thank you…my captain…" I opened my eyes and through my bleary vision I noticed that it was dark.

Tony Stark's light, was gone.

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**Thanks for reading. Feel free to leave a review. -Peace, Love, and Marvel; Razzberry-**


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